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Friday, January 28, 2011

Muslim group with ties to Anwar accused of terror connections, says CNN

January 28, 2011

Anwar has been linked to possible extremists through ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, JAN 28 — A secret Saudi intelligence report says there is no evidence of any Riyadh official funding Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, but found a fundamentalist Muslim organisation with links to the opposition leader had benefitted Al Qaeda through its support of politicians in Muslim countries, CNN reported late yesterday.

The international news network cited a secret investigation which was sparked by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who had complained that the Saudis appeared to be funding Anwar in upcoming elections.

CNN claimed that Malaysian authorities suspected two senior Saudi princes of involvement in funding Anwar, and this led to a secret investigation by Riyadh.

A secret report seen by CNN concludes: "There is no evidence any Saudi official ever supported Anwar Ibrahim" and "claims of support from the Saudi royals named in the initial report [names redacted] were found to be without basis."

Najib had complained the Saudis appeared to be funding Anwar.

CNN reported that "the investigation found that hundreds of millions of dollars of Saudi money had been funneled to leading Islamist politicians and political activists overseas. It also found that al Qaeda and the Taliban were still able to use Saudi Arabia for fund-raising, despite numerous measures to choke off those sources of cash."

CNN said the nine-page summary of the secret report states that the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist political group present in many Muslim countries, was trying "through its many affiliated charities and organisations — often with the funding of unwitting private Saudi citizens — to spread its influence by providing support for candidates in Islamic democracies."

"Once in power these candidates are expected to further the Brotherhood's goals. Al Qaeda was able to benefit from these secret funding mechanisms, according to the source, because some in the Muslim Brotherhood had "historic sympathies and connections" with members of the terror group — dating back to when Saudi Arabia and the CIA covertly funded the Afghan mujahideen to fight the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan," CNN reported.

In recent months right-wing websites in the United States unhappy with Anwar's close ties with Washington have accused the de facto leader of PKR of being linked with terror organisations through his association with the Muslim Brotherhood.

Considered fundamentalist and radical by its critics the Muslim Brotherhood has a large global following among Muslims.

The Muslim Brotherhood is described as an international Islamist movement and the largest political organisation in many Arab countries. It is the world's oldest and largest Islamic political group.

Whether it has ties with terrorism is a matter of dispute.

The Muslim Brotherhood has been accused by Cairo of being behind planned street demonstrations today against President Hosni Mubarak.